Sanford arts festival celebrates St. Johns River

The St. Johns River Festival of the Art is taking place across two days this May, with this year’s theme being ‘The celebration of the St. Johns River’.

It will feature food and beverage vendors, artists and crafters, demonstrations of art techniques, and acoustical musical performances. Proceeds from the festival will benefit the Midway Elementary School of the Arts. It should be a fun way to spend a weekend while enjoying local artists, and somewhere between 20,000 and 25,000 people are expected to be drawn to the festival.

The craftspeople who will be exhibiting at the festival have been chosen by a jury and all will be eligible to win over $14,000 in cash prizes. There are eight categories for which awards will be given including jewelry, clay, painting, and fine craft. The jurors are Donne Bitner and Jinsong Kim. There is a cost for artists to participate in the festival, but this can be offset by patrons who will sponsor individual artists. General sponsorships of the festival are also available for local businesses.

The painting ‘Hot and Humid in Florida’ by Beatrice Athanas has been chosen as this year’s poster. The original will be auctioned off and copies will be available for purchase, with autographs from the artists available. No doubt local printing companies will be helping to provide the posters to guests who will be coming from all over the area, probably including nearby Longwood.

The 2nd annual St. Johns River Festival will take place along 1st Street in downtown Sanford from May 4 – 5. For more information, contact Kim at 407-416-1779.